Page 47 of Cuddles for the Bear
“Oh, babe, don’t be like that. I like to look at them. I like to polish them. I like to take them out for long, long drives with my sexy mate.” Python came over with a car magazine, pointing at a listing for a bright red Thunderbird. “Come on, you’ve got to admit that would look really lovely in my collection.”
It was a beautiful classic vehicle, if the pictures were to be believed, but Cyrus knew if he said yes to one, his mate would cover every available space with even more vehicles he didn’t need. “I’m not saying you can’t get it, babe. That’s up to you. You can park it out back. I know there’s no cover there, but you could probably get one of those tarpaulin car cover things…”
“You can’t go putting a tarpaulin on my new baby! It’ll scratch the paintwork, and bugs can climb under it.” Python’s shocked face was always guaranteed to make Cyrus grin.
He was just about to answer when the workshop door buzzer went off. Glancing over his shoulder, Cyrus’s animal spirits immediately bristled at the angry wolf shifter who strode into his workshop.
“Are you Cyrus?”
“Who’s asking?” Cyrus turned to face him, folding his arms across his chest. He already had a pretty good idea who the unexpected visitor was. He could feel Python looming behind him, but his mate was silent for now.
“I’m Arrow, from the agency. I got told there could be a message here for me.” Arrow looked around the workshop and sneered. “Quite a quaint establishment you’ve got here.”
“There’s nothing wrong with honest hard work,” Cyrus said. “But yes, now you mention it, there was something left for you.”
“Has it got anything to do with Flint? You know. The pretty boy with the cock-sucker lips who keeps trying to pass himself off as an assassin.”
“Keep your voice down,” Cyrus growled, annoyed at the flippant tone and the insult to his friend. “I have perfectly innocent human customers who could walk in here at any moment. I’d appreciate it if you could be a bit more discreet and keep a civil tongue in your head.”
“Who’s got time for discretion?” Cyrus could see fur creeping up and down Arrow’s neck. “I need to speak to Flint. Now, damn it. Where is he?”
“All I was told was to give you a message.” Brushing past the wolf shifter, Cyrus reached around the counter in his little front office, plucking an envelope off the desk. All it had on it was a pawprint, no name. Cyrus had been holding onto it for two days.
“You’ve got your message,” he said, handing over the envelope. “Now go.”
“Go? What do you mean? I have to find Flint. It’s important.” Arrow ripped open the envelope and pulled out a piece of paper, looking at both sides. It was completely blank.
“There’s nothing here. You’ve given me the wrong envelope. There’s nothing on here. I got told to pick up a message from Flint here. I need it. I need to find him.”
“I would’ve thought the message was obvious,” Cyrus said calmly. “Flint has got nothing to say to you. Not now, not ever.”
“You can’t be serious,” Arrow snarled, flexing claws from the end of his fingers.
Moving up so he was beside Cyrus, Python coughed and shook his head. “I’d watch yourself, puppy. That’s my mate you’re messing with. I can take you down one-handed and don’t think that I won’t.”
Arrow had the sense to step back, taking in a shaky breath. “Okay, so you know about mates. Do you know this Flint? Have you talked to him? Do you realize what he did to me?”
“Yes, actually,” Cyrus said, checking to make sure nobody else was within hearing distance. He leaned forward and said, “I heard how you interfered on Flint’s latest job – a job he got from the agency. I heard all about how you mocked him when he was trying to work, demeaning him in front of others, slapping his ass, and waving your dick at him, while he wasworking.
“I heard how he took you aside and tried to explain what was going on, and how you didn’t listen, just demanding all the while that he bend over for you, and he should make it pretty damn quick, because you had another appointment to get to. I also know that he did what any professional would do and got his jobdone before leaving you for dust. Anyone with any ounce of self-respect would’ve done the same damn thing.”
“Look, I don’t know what sort of an organization you’re running here, but you clearly don’t know who I am,” Arrow said, clearly taken aback by the way Cyrus was speaking to him. “I’m a very important person in the agency, the agency you work for.”
“I know all about you and your important position. You’re in cyber-crimes, but you’re not even one of the guys who do all the hard work every day. You sit around in the break room, acting all tough, waiting for someone to give you an order. When you get it, you dust off your fancy suit and go and arrest bankers, tax evaders, and cryptocurrency bros. Note, I said arrest. That’s it. Nice and comfy, home in time for dinner.”
Cyrus mock shuddered. “Things are a bit different here. Fortunately, I have nothing to do with your department and don’t need to,” he said. “My agency contacts know how dangerous the work my team does, including Flint, and they respect them accordingly, the same as I do.”
“I appreciate you’re his supervisor, or handler, or whatever you call it,” Arrow blustered, “but this is a mating matter – personal. It doesn’t concern you.”
“First and foremost, Flint is my friend.” Cyrus stared into Arrow’s eyes, challenging him to hold his gaze. Arrow held it for all of three seconds before his eyes dropped.
“You need to pay attention. Flint, the man you ridiculed and treated like a sex object, is the best sniper the agency has. He gets flown all over the world for difficult jobs because he’s so damn good. He can outshoot anyone the agency has on their books, and he proves it every time he’s sent out on a job.”
“You’re kidding me. That little guy?” Arrow looked at Python, but he wouldn’t get any help there either. “He barely comes upto my chest. It’s obvious to me he’s been put in this backwater operation to keep him out of harm’s way. He’s a twink!”
Cyrus resisted the urge to slap the man or punch him to the ground. He ran a family business, and he didn’t want to spook any of the locals who’d accepted him and his friends so readily.
“You can think what you like. A simple check of agency records would prove what I’m saying is true, and you already know I’m not lying. Because of the way he looks, marks underestimate Flint all the time, just like you did. That’s one of the reasons why he has one of the highest kill rates in the agency. He never fucks up a job, not even when he had the unfortunate issue of running into you in the middle of an operation.”
